What drives brand decisions in Québec

June 07, 2008

Trespassing and banking

I spotted two strategically located posters in Toronto and
Montreal this week.

Ikea is intercepting people shopping for mattresses right in
front of Sleep Country Canada’s new store at the corner of The Queensway and
Kipling.

In Montreal, Laurentian Bank seems to have scouted every
competitor’s branch in Montreal’s downtown core with the message “T’es sur
d’avoir choisi la bonne banque?” (Are you sure you’ve chosen the right bank?).

This message is likely to be a tougher sell in Quebec
than it would be in English Canada given Quebeckers’ apparent stronger loyalty
to their financial institution.

Ipsos Reid’s Canadian Account Habits conducted for RBC in
2006 revealed that significantly more Quebeckers (60%) still had an account
with the FI where they opened their first account (compared to 42% in Ontario
and as low as 31% in the Prairies.) The same survey revealed that the main
reason for opening the account at the time was as a “school account” among 5%
of Quebeckers compared to 1% for the national average. And when asked about the
person who taught them the most about managing money and saving when they were
a child, 8% said their teacher compared to 3% for the national average. Maybe
they should target teachers instead…